Hobby horse



April 1958 G. D. KlGHT ETAL 2,832,594

HOBBY HORSE Filed July 27, 1956 l I 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIA l INVENTORSGZEA/ 0. K/GHT ATTOEA/E'YS United States Patent C) HOBBY HORSE Glen D.Kight and Earl T. Jarrett, White Salmon, Wash.

Application July 27, 1956, Serial No. 600,622

1 Claim. (Cl. 272-52) This invention relates to childrens amusementdevices, and more particularly has reference to a hobby horse designedto have a particularly interesting motion, calculated to provide amaximum amount of amusement so far as the child is concerned.

One object of importance is to provide a hobby horse which can bemounted on a centrally disposed, heavy spring, free of side supports, ina manner to impart to the horse a life-like action, from forward tobackward and from side to side.

Another object is to provide a hobby horse as stated that willaccommodate children of various sizes.

Another object is to provide a hobby horse which will be rugged, simplydesigned so as to permit its manufacture at low cost, and will bedesigned to aiford maximum safety for the rider.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views and inwhich:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the device in which the base andthe horse have been shown in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the hobby horse,the body of the horse and the base being shown in dotted lines and beingpartly broken away;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the same scale as Figure 2, taken online 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the same scale as Figure 2, taken online 4-4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view, on the same scale as Figure 2,taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral generallydesignates a base plate, including a flat, plate-like body 12 to thecenter portion of which is welded or otherwise fixedly connected atcentering disc 14. The centering disc 14 is formed with a slot 16(Figures 2 and 5) in which is welded an eye 18 projecting above the topsurface of the centering disc and receiving a closed loop 20 formed uponthe lower end of a connecting rod 22 surrounded by a heavy, compressioncoil spring 24 the lowermost convolution of which receives the centeringdisc 14, thus to hold the spring centered upon the base plate.

An abutment plate 26 is welded at its underside to an upper centeringplate 28 receiving the uppermost convolution of the spring, saiduppermost convolution of the spring abutting against the marginalportion of the abutment plate 26. Plates 26, 28 have registering,threaded openings receiving a complementarily threaded upper end portionof the rod 22.

Threaded upon the rod 22, and bearing against the top surface of plate26, is a cone nut 30. It will be understood that threadable adjustmentof the nut 30 longitudinally of the rod 22 will place the spring undermore or less tension, whichever is desired. If desired, a lock nut couldbe threaded onto the rod 22 immediately above the cone nut, to insurethat the selected spring tension will be maintained without possibilityof the cone nut moving along the rod 22 during use of the device.

Adjacent the upper end of the rod 22, the rod passes through a smoothwalled opening centrally formed in a rectangular support plate 32, tothe top surface of which is welded a nut 34 registered with the smoothwalled opening and threadedly engaged with the upper end portion of therod 22. The lock nut 36 is threaded on the rod 22, bearing against theunderside of the support plate 32.

Adjacent opposite ends of the plate 32 (see Figure 3) lag screws 38 areextended therethrough, and are threadedly engaged in the underside ofthe body 40 of a hobby horse. The underside of the body 40 has adownwardly opening recess 42 receiving the upper extremity of rod 22.

It will be understood that by backing off the lock nut 36, and rotatingthe hobby horse, the body 40 can be adjusted upwardly or downwardly, soas to accommodate the device for use by children of different sizes.This adjustment can be made independently of or in conjunction with thespring tension adjustments previously described herein.

In any event, the device is mounted upon a fiat base plate 44, supportedat its ends upon cross members 48. The base plate may be of any sizefound sufiicient to insure stability of the device at the lower endthereof when the hobby horse is in use.

In use of the device, the child when seated upon the body 40 may rockforwardly and rearwardly, or from side to side, as desired, since theconnection between the closed loop 20 and the eye 18 is in effect theuniversal connection permitting swinging of the rod in any direction. Ineach instance, the spring 24 flexes laterally, and tending to return toits normal vertical position shown in Figure 1 imparts life-likemovements to the hobby horse, designed to provide a high degree ofamusement for the rider. The horse, in use, has been found to have avigorous action, and is particularly designed for safe use, being freeof outwardly projecting supports against which a child may fallaccidentally. Still further, the construction is such as to permit awide range of adjustment, both as regards the elevation of body 40 abovethe supporting surface, or as regards the tension of the spring.

The base plate will, of course, be fixedly secured to the base 44 bymeans of bolts 46 or equivalent means.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses thereof described above since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeonly of the principles it being considered that the inventioncomprehends any minor change in construction that may be permittedwithin the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A hobby horse comprising a base plate; a lower centering plate fixedlysecured to the base plate; an elongated rod having a universalconnection to the base plate and projecting upwardly from the centeringplate, said rod having a threaded upper end portion; a compression, coilspring surrounding the rod and having a bottom convolution snuglyreceiving the centering plate and bearing against the base plate; anabutment plate surrounding the threaded upper end portion of said rod;an upper centering plate bearing against the underside of the abutmentplate and snugly received in the uppermost convolution of the spring,said uppermost convolution bearing against the upper centering plate,the upper centering plate and the abutment plate having threadedopenings receiving said threaded portion of the rod; a nut threaded uponthe rod above the abutment plate and bearing against the abutment plate,thus to lock the abutment plate and upper centering plate in selectedpositions to which they are shifted longitudinally of the rod inadjusting the tension of the spring; a support plate spacedlongitudinally of the rod from said nut, said support plate having athreaded connection to the threaded portion of the rod for adjustment ofthe support plate longitudinally of the rod independently of theadjustment of the abutment plate and upper centering plate; a lock nutthreadedly engaged with said upper end portion of the rod between thesupport 10 plate and the first named nut, said lock nut being engage- 4able against the underside of the support plate in selected positions towhich the support plate is threadedly adjusted longitudinally of therod; and an animal-simulating body overlying and fixedly secured to thesupport plate, and adapted to support a human rider.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

